Daniel Lobatón and Raig Adolfo Named Co-Presidents of Saatchi & Saatchi NY

Saatchi & Saatchi New York has named chief creative officer Daniel Lobatón and newly hired chief strategy officer Raig Adolfo as co-presidents of the agency. Adolfo will officially join on Nov. 8. Adolfo, who comes to the Publicis-owned agency from 360i, where he was chief strategy officer, was hired to build strategic capabilities and fuel innovation across the company. According to a statement by Publicis Groupe Creative U.S. CEO Andrew Swinand, Adolfo will “help teams uncover a single truth to find radical clarity for our creative teams.” Previous to 360i, Adolfo held strategy positions at FCB, Redscout, Grey, Ogilvy, DDB and WMcCann. He has helped create work for brands including 7-Eleven, Amtrak, Burger King, Coca-Cola and Diageo. Adolfo told Adweek he came to Saatchi & Saatchi because of the “exciting approach they have to ideas, and also the bravery,” citing the agency’s “nimble approach and fresh thinking” to campaigns like the “Tide Laundry Night,” which Lobatón worked on, and the Goldfish work. Adolfo and Lobatón will work closely with new and existing clients to tie strategy and creative together to create more agile campaigns that are in tune with the modern markets, according to Adolfo. “There's nothing worse in this industry than to give the right creative answer to the wrong business question. It hurts morale, it hurts budgets, it destroys relationships between clients and even teams. It happens more often than not, and I think putting the agency in the hands of practitioners like Daniel and I will help solve a lot of things, or even anticipate things that should be happening,” stated Adolfo. Since joining the agency in 2017, Lobatón has championed work for Tide, Olay, Goldfish and other key clients. His appointment as co-president comes after being named chief creative officer in March 2020. During his first year in the role, he helped put the agency in the top 10 U.S. rankings in both One Show and D&AD as well as making it the most awarded Publicis Groupe North America agency at Cannes Lions. “The great thing about having Raig on board is that we're going get to solve (client) problems faster with the combination of strategy and creative…at the speed that clients require today. That's our big ambition. I think we've become better and better at it over the past two years, and this is the extra push we need,” Lobatón told Adweek. Fostering a collaborative environment The co-president appointments are integral to building a more collaborative Saatchi & Saatchi network across the U.S., leveraging data and strategy to create provocative ideas that grow business, according to Swinand’s statement. “These appointments reflect our strategic focus on creativity and our commitment to having creatives in leadership at the agency," he said. "We’re already looking ahead to see how we can continue to transform the network.” Adolfo and Lobatón are looking forward to working together to push their creative ideas as far as they can go, which was a founding principle of the agency back in the '70s. “I want to see it alive and kicking, as we work together,” said Adolfo, adding that Lobatón is the right partner to help do that. Inside Tide's Epic Super Bowl Ode to Procrastination